The Other Side
by QueenJaqueline
Summary: Continuation of the season finale. Olivia is desperate for escape but has no where to go, and getting to the other side looks hopeless.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

"Please let me out of here… I know you can hear me!" Olivia pounded her fist against the glass as Walternate stared pensively at her, "Please…please let me out of here" It was not in her nature to plead this way, but panic was setting in as she slammed her hands against the thick glass. Walternate placed his hand on the blind, slowly dropping them. The light was leaving her cell. "No, no, no," she choked as the stream of light was diminished. "No!" She was screaming now, "No! No!"

Olivia rested her forehead on the cold pain of glass wide eyed feeling the darkness that had swallowed her whole. Her breathing was ragged, escalated. Each gulp of air seemed to be incomplete, her lungs were constricted in hyperventilation and dizziness set in. Olivia closed her eyes tight, as if trying to forget a nightmare, which, indeed she was living. She focused on her breathing, _Inhale through the nose; exhale through the mouth_ she repeated in her mind. Slowly her lungs were filled and her heart rate slowed, not into relaxation, but it kept her anxiety at bay.

She retreated back into her corner and returned into the fetal position she had taken before Walternate had appeared. She pulled her legs tight against her chest and rested her forehead upon her knees; a protective gesture that she knew was futile. _Think Olivia, think!"_ Biting her lip she reflected on what had transpired within the last few hours. The back of her head still throbbed as she remembered how her alternate self smashed something into the back of her skull. Her gun? A rock? She wasn't sure. It did not matter; the blow had knocked her out cold. Olivia placed her hand on the lump that had formed just below the crown of her head feeling the dried blood that had matted her hair. _Her hair…Perhaps_ that had been her downfall. She could only assume that "Bolivia" had replaced her. They were identical now, and her side knew it, she was unsure, however, if they would figure it out. They _had_ to. Olivia had cut her hair and dyed it to match Bolivia's, but didn't mean there weren't subtle differences. As Bolivia had said _"you keep your backup gun in your purse? I keep mine in my jacket."_ Olivia didn't expect anyone to notice that slight difference, but Bolivia didn't know the details of the life Olivia had lived, and it was only a matter of time before someone would notice…before Peter noticed. Surely _he_ would notice. Wouldn't he?

She wondered if they had crossed over safely without her. Made it home. Her heart ached at the thought. How long would it be before someone came to rescue her? Would they rescue her? So many questions raced through her head it made her nauseous. She thought of Peter and their stolen moment, where she told him how she felt, pleaded that he would return with her; stay with her, _love_ her. Maybe he wouldn't notice the difference between Bolivia and herself. Maybe he would go one loving her, kissing _her. _The thought made her skin crawl, made anger surge through her, pain grip her, and utter hopelessness take hold of her. Olivia tried to push the thought of this and focus on getting out of her cell, but she was haunted. Not only by thoughts of Peter and her "twin", but her current isolation, her current _fear_.

It reminded her of the Cortexifan trials. She began to rock slightly, to shake in the darkness. She hardly remembered those times in her youth, but in this current position memories were flooding, and no matter how hard she tried, she could not escape them. She was curled up in the corner, not in the alternate world, but in the world of her childhood, in the schoolroom where she had unintentionally set on fire. _Its all right Olive, it wasn't your fault," _Walter had said, so long ago. She was frightened. She doubted that spontaneous pyrokenesis would occur, or even help in the situation she was presently experiencing.

Olivia curled up on her side, pressed tightly against the cold white tile wall furthest from the door. She was exhausted. Crossing over was strenuous enough. Crossing back alone seemed impossible. She felt she had no control over that ability. What was it the Nina Sharp's scientist said? Particle acceleration, reformation of atoms, the instability of atoms…how being put together could go very wrong. She had seen that earlier in the day with James Heath. His grotesque tumors hadn't quite hit her when she was in action; she hadn't had the time to think about it then. But now, the reality set in. _What had they done?_

Olivia sighed deeply. What were they going to do with her? Peter was who they wanted, and using her as bait was an odd choice if Bolivia had gone in her place. _What did they want? _She kept screaming in her mind, over and over. Secrets? What did she know that they didn't? They had their shape shifting observers that knew what they were looking for. That information evaded Olivia, and from what she knew Sam Weiss was still at large. Isn't that what they had wanted? Wasn't he their master plan?

Well, before Peter becoming the destroyer of universes. She prayed he was able to cross back safely, and would not turn back. Yes, it was better this way. It was better for her to die if everyone else at home, Walter, Astrid, her sister, Ella…Peter…if they were safe. Perhaps they just were letting her sit, to observe her like some sort of animal until they grew tired of her and killed her. More likely, Olivia knew, they would experiment with her; draw memories out of her by cutting out parts of her brain.

Olivia was important, she knew, because she was still alive. This could be a bargaining tool if she could just figure out _why_ they wanted her. Did they know of her abilities? She hoped they did not. This factor could be an advantage in the long hall. Dread pulled at her stomach. _Bait._ For Peter. Was that it? For once in her life she imagined a sort of knight in shining armor that Peter could be, rescuing her from her cell and whisking her away. She scoffed at the idea. As much as she longed to see him, she knew that it was not safe for him to come back. They would use him. And she couldn't bear to have that happen because of her. She'd rather rot in her confinement.

Drowsiness settled in over her and her eyelids felt heavy. The last few weeks had taken a toll on her. Losing Peter, crossing over, finding Peter…and losing him again. And this damned cell. She felt the tension loosen slightly in her muscles, her body ached for sleep, but her mind still raced. What would happen when she fell asleep?

It had been three days since Peter had seen Olivia. He had spent most of this time either at home with Walter trying to convince him he wasn't leaving again, or at the lab drawing out diagrams of the weapon's configuration, explaining its reaction to his person. He had called Olivia twice; the first time it hit voicemail he quickly hung up, feeling like an idiotic schoolboy. The second day he left an awkward voicemail, telling her to come by the lab sometime. Walter was making cotton candy, so if she wanted, she should stop by. She didn't.

He swallowed hard at the thought. _She_ had been the one to initiate that kiss, not him. Was she regretting it? It certainly seemed like it. Although reason told him to leave her alone, it was, after all, only a matter of time before events pulled them back together in the lab. The war wasn't over. But he was tired of waiting. Tired of the anxiety that made him jumpy. It made him feel like an idiot. He took a deep breath as he rapped his knuckles on Olivia's door, cursing mentally for bringing himself into such a situation. What was he going to say? He should have thought of that before he brought his sorry ass to her doorstep.

He waited a few moments. Nothing. Maybe this was his lucky break, and she wasn't home. The thought of her not being there also made him worry, since no one had seen or heard from her since they had returned from the other side. He nearly jumped out of his skin when the door open, and there she was.

"Oh, hello Peter." She smiled, her recently dyed hair hung about her shoulders in an elegant manner. He liked when she wore her hair down. "Please come inside." She led him into her apartment.

His heart raced a little. "Walter really missed you yesterday," he said, and this was true. "He was excited for you to try his cotton candy, but I gotta say, I'm not sure what he used in it. Its probably safer you didn't have any." Peter smirked.

"I'm sorry I missed that" she laughed lightly, "I was catching up with my sister and Ella."

Peter nodded in understanding. There was a pregnant pause and Peter took a deep breath. " So, if you get a chance you should come down to the lab. We're working on trying to understand the schematics of the technology Walternate had been trying to use. And," he added with a lopsided grin, "Between you and me, Walter really misses you."

Olivia nodded curtly, and another smile appeared. "Sure. I'll be down there in a few hours."

He returned her smile. He wanted to kiss her goodbye; he wanted to hold her again. Peter looked into her eyes and tried to search them, read what she was thinking, if she had changed her mind. Her green eyes looked at him quizzically, almost blankly. It was then he realized that it wasn't her. Peter hid his surprise as best as he could and forced another smile. "Well," he said, "we'll see you then." And he turned and left as quickly as he could.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Olivia hadn't realized she had fallen asleep until the harsh phosphorescent light pierced through the darkness. An intercom buzzed mechanically, and a gruff man's voice emitted from the speaker.

"Stand up, put your hands on your head, and stay against the wall."

She did as she was told, pressing her back against the firm tile wall, unsure of what to anticipate.

The cell door crept open and a man in a sterile white lab coat entered holding a tray of what appeared to be food. He watched her closely as he placed the tray on the floor. There was a plastic cup filled with water and the heel of a loaf of bread.

Olivia scowled at this meager meal. What else should she expected? At least they were feeding her.

"I have to use the restroom." She said in a firm voice.

The man sneered and pointed to the far corner of the room indicating a dirty bucket with a wire handle. Olivia blanched. The man in the lab coat laughed as he closed the door to her cell and shut the lights off. The only source of light was the blip of a small red dot she identified as a surveillance camera. Olivia felt heat rise to her cheeks in a flush. There had to be a way out, but now that she realized she wouldn't be provided a proper toilet she needed a new plan.

Olivia crossed the small room and took the food, now realizing how hungry she was. She hadn't eaten since the previous day, before they had crossed over, and after all of the events that had transpired she was famished.

The bread was hard and stale, but she ate it ravenously taking gulps of the water between bites. She felt like an animal. She supposed she was, caged and neglected.

After she finished her meal she turned her head into the corner where the man had indicated the bucket. She glowered, angry at her being completely isolated, but still surveyed, leaving her no privacy to even relieve herself. She crawled to the corner, groping her way to the bucket. She felt the metal pail in her hands, and her fingers found there way to the wire handle. It was then she was struck with an idea.

She pulled her body into an upright position, her back towards the camera, and leaned forward to conceal her work. Her fingers pried at the wire, feeling its curvature and finding its twisted end that looped through the metal pail. Olivia dug her thumb under the wire's end and tried to bend it away from the bucket, unraveling the handle. As she pressed the pad of her thumb to it and pried, the wire pricked her sharply. A hiss of pain escaped her lips and she pulled her hand away. It was difficult to tell if the wire had pulled away from its place in the dark. It would be very tedious to remove the wire, but it was the closest thing she had to a weapon.

Olivia wasn't sure how long she sat there, but her fingers were crying in pain after unclamping the wire's ends. She felt the dampness of her blood that oozed from the gouges that had been created, but this knowledge of damage fueled her determination to fashion a weapon. Olivia bent the wire in half, smoothing it tight as she could. She wove each end of the wire around each other to form a spiral to form a thicker end. She smirked slightly after feeling her craftsman's shift of her crude knife, and she supposed it could be considered a "shank". This idea was laughable, however, she wasn't really in a comical situation.

All that was left to do was wait.

Before pulling away from her corner she tucked the wire into the sleeve of her jacket. She knew they had been monitoring her from the small surveillance camera, and they would have figured it odd how she had placed herself in the corner with her head pressed into the wall. She hoped she hadn't raised any suspicion, that she just appeared hopeless and slightly insane. Either way, it didn't matter. She just needed for someone to open the door.

Olivia wasn't sure how long had taken place from the point she had entered the cell. Hours were impossible to keep track of in the pitch-blackness that surrounded her, and she wasn't even sure how long she had slept. She knew at least two hours had passed between the time she was given food and the length it took her to unfasten the wire from the bucket. It didn't matter how long it took, she would be ready for when an attendant would come back to feed her, and she would be prepared to fight.

A long time had passed. Olivia was still intently watching the area she knew the door existed, and as time passed she changed decided it would be best to look as hopeless and broken as possible. She slumped to the floor in boredom and mock despair.

Eventually the screen was pulled up and the lights flashed on. Olivia saw Walternate study her and she met his gaze with a seething stare of her own. She didn't bother this time to race to the window and yell as she did before. She just let her eyes bore into his, letting her eyes communicate her rage. She saw him gesture to someone, beckoning them to where he was. He said something to them, an unheard direction that sent her heart racing.

She heard the click of the door and watched as it opened. The man in the lab coat appeared and the direction to stand up and put her hands on her head were repeated. He didn't have a tray in his hand or anything she could detect as a reason to enter her cell. As she did as he asked she slid the tip of the wire from her sleeve into her palm as she slowly placed her hands upon her head.

"Now walk towards me slowly, no funny business." He said, his eyes glinted and his lip curled.

Olivia glowered in confusion. _What were they going to do to her?_ She pulled her weapon more firmly in her palm, and as she was within striking distance, she swiftly kicked the man in his knees, making him collapse. He grabbed the doorway for support and Olivia took the opportunity to strike the wire into his neck. Blood spurted from the wound and he groaned in agony. He grabbed at her wildly, clawing at her as blood soaked his clean white collar. Olivia swiftly smashed her palm in an upward thrust to his nose and she felt the cartilage and tissue crush under her blow.

She quickly reached for the gun on his side and pulled it out of the holster. Clamoring over his body she rapidly searched for somewhere she could take cover. Spotting a table, Olivia quickly took a dive under it and turned it over on its side to block her from the oncoming bullets that the guards were sending her way. They were fast, but at that moment she was faster. She looked around wildly searching for an exit. The window evaded her, and she noted that the facility she was in was many stories up. Her next option was across the expanse of the room towards a set of double doors. It would be impossible to reach as there were several frenzied people racing towards her from that direct direction.

As she searched her eyes locked with the secretary, who simply stood and watched as she shot at his men. She had taken two down, not including the man who she had stabbed. There would be more men soon, she knew, as there was a siren blaring. But as she looked at him it was if that moment time was slowed. There wasn't much in small room, just the desk she had overturned and blood soaked paperwork scattered across the floor. Olivia could kill him now, take a shot right at him, he was only a few yards from her. She raised her gun and prepared to shoot when she felt a sharp pain at the base of her skull and her world turned black.

"Walter," Peter said urgently as he shoved the door to the lab open with a bang. "We have the wrong Olivia."

Walter looked up at him from his current work that was spread out on his desk with a bewildered look. He blinked several times before his slow reply. "What do you mean Peter?"

Peter saw that Walter knew, and just as he felt, admitting what had happened was a painful revelation of truth. Now that Peter had uttered his realization aloud, he felt another wave of panic course through his body. Saying it made it real, made it true.

"Look, I just came from her apartment, there is something different about her. I know it. I-I just saw it. I looked at her, and saw that she was different, her eyes. They're lighter. Its not our Olivia."

Walter's eyes widened, he shook slightly as he considered what Peter said. He began to gesture with his hands, indicating he was piecing together the information to form a conclusion. "If the Olivia who was transported with us," he started, "then there must be a reason. They did not intend for us to notice the switch. We must find out what she is up to."

"We have to get Olivia back!" Peter interjected. "Who knows what they are doing to her. We have to go back."

"But Peter," Astrid said softly, "That's exactly what they want you to do. They need you for their machine."

Peter's expression darkened. "I don't care."

Walter looked frantic. "But there is the matter of crossing back over. I-I don't know how we could do it, I don't have the means to…its too unstable."

Astrid placed a hand on Peter's arm. "We'll work on it, okay?"

Peter glowered. "Lets get to work."


End file.
